Family Remains
by TheDoctorHasPie
Summary: Katherine finds herself in another one of those interesting but dangerous situations which there's no escaping from. So It might be better to just give in to the curiosity and have another adventure... This is a fanfic with a bit of The Vampire Diaries and a bit of Supernatural.
1. You seem Lonely

**Chapter 1**

Katherine was sitting in a diner just outside of Washington D.C. One of those fifties-diners people thought were deliberately retro, even though it had probably been there, unchanged, since then. Which Katherine knew was the case in this particularly crappy roadside diner.  
She'd been there before, a few decades back. It hadn't changed much since then. It still had the grumpy waitresses and shifty-looking clientèle.  
The only thing that had changed was a flat-screen now hanging on a wall above the bar. It seems that the owner had found the money to buy a flat-screen but not to call pest-control. Katherine thought while swatting a cockroach with the saltshaker.

'Can I get you something, sugar?'

She looked up. A short husky woman was standing there, holding a notebook and pen. The ginger-haired waitress (chewing gum like her life depended on it) looked very impatient and was letting Katherine know this by tapping her pen vigorously on the notebook.

'Caan I get yoouu somethiiing?' she asked again very slowly, seemingly thinking Kathy was either deaf or stupid.

'Coffee, black, two sugars' she answered, ignoring the voice in her head  
_Oh just rip her head off and get it yourself._

Focusing back on the twitching cockroach, the waitress waddled off leaving an unpleasant aroma of cheap Vodka behind. Anyone else wouldn't have noticed this but then she wasn't just anyone.

'You seem lonely' a man in a light brown trench coat was sitting in the booth opposite of her.

'I'm not lonely, Cas. I have you, remember? My stalker angel. That reminds me. Why did you say you were here again?' Castiel had an irritating habit of popping up in places you didn't want him too. Like for example, your bedroom when you have...company.

'I didn't say. What are you talking about?' he said with a confused-but-intrigued look on his face.

'Cas, it's...I didn't... just tell me why you're here.' She really didn't have time for this.

'Dean's mad at me.' He said almost pouting.

_As usual.  
_'Dean's always mad at you. He'll get over it.' Katherine wasn't in the mood for this. His timing couldn't have been worse. He'll be here soon.

'Who will be here soon?' Castiel disrupted her train of thought.

'Castiel, stop listening in!' Kathy yelled a bit too loud because the waitress, coming over with her coffee(finally), almost dropped the coffee-can she was holding.

Kathy looked back at a Castiel that wasn't there anymore. _Oh great. Thanks Cas. Now she thinks I'm a lunatic talking to myself. '_

**'You're welcome.' **

_I was being sarcastic!_

The fact that Katherine was now staring at an empty space in front of her didn't make her seem less psycho. The waitress quickly placed a mug in front of her, filled it in record time, said: 'On the house.' and sped off.  
At least her seeming to be crazy got her a free cup of coffee.

'They're so easily frightened.'

The voice came from a man standing next to the booth. He seemed to be very much out of his "comfort-zone" in this shady, old diner. Not because he looked nervous but because he looked too well-dressed to be eating here. He was wearing a black suit and tie _Armani most likely_ (Katherine had an eye for expensive suits) and a ring on his left ring finger. It was a golden ring with a dark blue stone in it. It very much resembled the one she was wearing.

'Waitresses?' she asked, flicking the dead cockroach from the table.

'No. Humans.' he answered with a smile. He held up is arms like he was expecting a hug.

Katherine stood up immediately and gave him one. 'Elijah...I've missed you.'

'I've missed you too, little sister'

'So how long has it been? A decade or so?'

Elijah had ordered a stack of pancakes (to Katherine's surprise) and was pouring a red gooey syrup on top of it which came from a metal flask inside his pocket.

'Yeah..something like that.' she said distracted by the pancakes.  
Elijah dug in. Noticing her looking at him with confusion, he stopped eating and said:'I've been dead since yesterday.' Which right after he began stuffing his face again.

'Oh okay.'

This seemed to make perfect sense.

'Is that why you called me?' Katherine asked, forcing Elijah to stop eating again and answer her question.(Which he didn't care for but did anyway).

'Among other reasons, yes.' He took one more bite and then put his fork on the shiny metal table.

'So there's something else besides you croaking?' she asked jokingly. This seemed to be a pretty good reason to call for some help.

He wiped his mouth with a napkin from the metal dispenser on the table. He clenched his jaw. He looked serious._ There's my brother._

'I found the doppelgänger.' Kathy's jaw dropped. _This can't be._

'What? You mean...? I thought Katerina was...? Are you sure?'

'Very. I saw her.' He said almost nonchalant.

Waiting for him to continue, she took a sip from the coffee she'd forgotten about. _Eww, cold. _

'I got a call from Rose, saying she had something I might be interested in. Remember her?'

Katherine, putting the mug down, had to dig deep to remember that one. _Rose...Rose...Rosalie?...Rose... I only know one Rose. About four centuries ago...?  
Ding ding ding_. 'Yeah, wasn't she friends with that Trevor-kid? Brown hair, skinny, frog-eyes...'

'Ehm...yes her. Well I went over there and there she was. A human Petrova-Doppelgänger.'

He was staring into space. Like she was standing there. She wasn't. That waitress was though. She was talking to a client when she caught his stare. She disappeared quickly after that.

'So where is she?' Elijah woke up from his daydream.

'I had her and then...'

'You HAD her? What happened?'

'Then I died.'

_Oh great._

'Oh great.'


	2. If it comes to it

**Chapter 2**

Katherine had seen her fair share of shady motel rooms but this one was by far the shadiest. The walls were painted a lovely light green which, after forty years, had turned into the color of something a former guest had thrown up. The disheveled curtains looked like rags hanging in front of the dirty window and I'm not even going to mention the horrifying details of the bathroom.

She was leaning back in a chair placed in the middle of the room. Mostly because she didn't want to lie on the bed. (The smell coming off the sheets indicated they did NOT wash them on a regular basis.)

She needed to think. Think about what her next step would be. Elijah's doppelgänger story had caught her interest. But she knew how he could be like when he was doing Klaus' bidding. Elijah was a kind man, a man with morals and dignity. But Klaus had none of those qualities. When they were together they were both cruel and without mercy. But then again if she didn't go with Elijah, more people might get hurt than If she was there. Elijah had asked her to help HIM. Not just anyone she fancied. So he wouldn't be too happy If she didn't follow his plan.

_I can't believe I got dragged into this again. Stupid Elijah. Thinking I'll do whatever he says. Well, that's not gonna happen...I suppose I could just take a quick peek at what's going on around there. Have a look at the doppelgänger and leave. What could go wrong? Damn, I can't believe I said that. Things always go tits-up when someone says that. Well, It's downhill from here on out. Maybe I should just...take a gander then._

Mystic Falls. It had been a long time since she'd been there.

She grew up there and she hated it. Her parents had moved there from England long ago to build a peaceful, happy life for their family. Katherine chuckled._ Yeah, that worked out great._ There was never a moment of peace in that place. Her father was a tyrant towards her older brother, Niklaus. Always making sure he knew who was boss. That's what probably did it, pushed him over the edge... Never once did he raise his voice towards her though. She was daddy's little girl. She liked it that way. At least one of her parents she could please. Her mum wasn't the nurturing type. Having an army of children doesn't necessarily mean you're a good mother. Witchcraft was the only thing they shared. Well, shared.. Esther made her practice it._ "So you can protect you family if it comes to it.'' _

She didn't think much of it then. Protect against what?

**A "little" ways down the road **

An ear-piercing howl shredded through the air as the sound of a dozen wolves stampeding through the woods grew closer. A wolf pack, striding between trees, leaping with ease over fallen tree branches. Almost synchronous. Almost. One of them had caught a scent and wandered off.  
It recognized the scent. It seemed so familiar but so...unfamiliar at the same time. There were two of them. Two traces of that scent. Side by side. Running fast, but not fast enough. The wolf followed it. First in a slow pace, then a little faster. Faster. Faster. So fast he could barely see his surroundings. Trees became just shapes in the distance. He didn't recognize anything but he knew exactly where he was going. Towards the scent. Focus. Focus! Where is it going? Left, right, left. There! He could hear his pack howling in the distance, the wind coming through the trees, the running water of a nearby river.  
An ear-shattering growl.  
Then everything was quiet.

'Come on, Nik! I want to go and watch!' A young boy, barely in his teens, was dragging his older brother after him by the arm. His long ,dark brown hair ruffled by the wind.

Nik, or Niklaus was quite a bit older. A man even. He had long, blond, wavy hair and was wearing a white shirt with a black leather vest over it. His sword resting in the scabbard on his belt. He wasn't the best swordsman but he could hold his own in a fight.

'I'm coming, I'm coming. You know, father will be furious when he finds out we're out here during a full moon. Are you sure you want to do this?'

'Well, It was your idea. And you know I've always wanted to see them transform. So yes!' They were almost at the edge of the forest. 'You promised for my birthday, so let's go!'

The boy, and his brother behind him, leapt through the woods. Darting between the trees so fast, Nik could barely keep up with him. He kept running for almost 20 minutes and then he stopped. Looking between the trees he saw what he thought were about a dozen men and women standing in a open field. It had gotten much darker than when they left and he had trouble making out any faces.

'Can you see them?' Nik whispered in his brothers ear. He had finally caught up.

The boy turned sideways, looking at his brother he put his right index finger to his mouth and pointed at the open field with his other one. The men and women weren't doing anything. They were just standing there, gazing up at the sky. Waiting. For a while, nothing happened. Then a minute or so later, the moon had risen to the point when it's light filled the open space like silver burning torches had been lit up in the night sky. Filling every crevice, shining on all their faces with its gentle touch. Then, a moment of dead silence. It lasted only 1...2...3 seconds until a single scream echoed through the forest. Followed by the screams of eleven women and men. The two brothers had heard those screams countless times before whilst hiding in the safety of their own home. But that wasn't nearly as frightening as it was at that moment. They were standing so close they could see the pain etched onto their faces as they dropped to the ground. The sound of breaking bones was deafening. Nik and his brother both wanted to leave but it was like they were paralyzed. They could only stand there and watch. One of the older men in the field stopped screaming. The ending of screams from the old man was only noticeable by the following of a wolfs growl coming from his mouth. His mouth was no longer a human mouth, it was filled with teeth designed to rip the flesh off its prey. His eyes had turned a golden shade and his chest had narrowed. Moments later a pack of a dozen wolves was standing in the open field. While the werewolves were still adjusting to their new form, the brothers were able to move again and instantly made their way back. Running swiftly through the woods, they didn't speak a word. They knew that a single syllable would be heard by the werewolves.

It felt as though they had been running for ages but they weren't even close to the edge of the forest. The moonlight was blocked by the overgrowing trees so they couldn't see a thing. They were tripping over rocks and bumping into low hanging branches every which way and they couldn't see them but they knew the wolves were right behind.

Then an ear-piercing howl shredded through the air as the sound of a dozen wolves stampeding through the woods grew closer. A wolf pack, striding between trees and leaping with ease over fallen tree branches.

'Come on, this way!' Niklaus tried whispering as he dragged his little brother in a different direction. Still unable to see anything through the trees, they just kept sprinting further and further. They had kept running for as long as they could until they were both out of breath and stopped behind a lining of big oak trees. The sound of wolves had faded. It was quiet except for the sound of the wind and of a river nearby. Exhausted, the boy sat against an oak tree.

Niklaus looked at his little brother.

Trying to hide the fear on his face, he said: 'We can't stay here. We need to keep running until we reach the clearing.'

The boy nodded, not able to say anything.

As he was getting back on his feet, Nik saw a glint of gold flicker through the leaves behind his brother. But before he had the chance to grab his sword, a terrifying growl rose up from deep inside the wolf and was ended by the scream of a young boy.

The wolf, having its powerful jaws clenched around the child's neck, paid no regard to Niklaus. The latter, now filled with an all-consuming rage, swung the sword he was holding at the beast.

He barely nicked it's ear but it was startled enough and disappeared into the darkness.

Niklaus stood there for a second, holding up his sword, when he saw his brother's lifeless body lying on the ground. He dropped the blood-stained blade and ran towards his little brother.

'Henrik!'

Leaning over him, Nik wrapped his arms around the cold body and held him tight. Tears streaming down his face as his mind tried to comprehend what had happened.

'Wake up. Please wake up, little brother. Please. I'm so sorry. Please wake up.'

But he never would.

He kept rocking him back and forth repeating over and over that he was sorry, until rays of sun began shining through the trees.

Morning had come and he hadn't moved an inch. Niklaus knew he needed to get up but his limbs had become numb and tingly. With effort, he was finally able to stand. While he was still holding his brother in his arms, he put one foot in front of the other and made his way out of the forest.

His eyelids had become heavy and he could barely walk, the weight in his arms becoming increasingly heavier. But Niklaus' adrenaline started pumping, thinking of the news he was bringing to his family.

'Mother!' He yelled as he reached the cabin, struggling to hold his brother.

'Mother!' Nik stopped and put Henrik on the ground.

'Henrik!'

A blonde girl came running out of the cabin towards him. Rebekah, his sister. He dared not look at her, he couldn't bare to see the horror on her face at seeing her brother's dead body on the ground. How could he have let this happen? Their mother had heard the screams of her son and came out from behind the cabin, followed quickly by their brother, Elijah and sister, Katherine.

'No. No. What happened?' she asked Klaus, falling to her knees in front of the boy.

'The wolves...' he answered, barely able to speak through the tears. 'I'm sorry. I'm so sorry'

Rebekah, Elijah and Katherine had sat down next to him and were comforting each other, grieving the loss of their sibling.

'We must save him. Please, there must be a way.' Esther begged Ayana who laid her hand on Henrik's chest. She was a very powerful witch but not even she could reverse death.

'The spirits will not give us a way, Esther. Your boy is gone.'


	3. Teenage Blues

**Chapter 3 **  
'Have you made a decision?' Elijah said as he held open the door. Katherine hadn't even rung the doorbell when he opened.

'I have, but I don't know If you're going to like it.' She answered, sitting down on the kitchen counter. It had taken her less than a second to get to the other side of his apartment. It looked quite expensive, but then money wasn't really an issue for Elijah.

'Well, I don't know if I want to hear it.' He said with just the slightest hint of a smile on his mouth. Elijah went behind the bar across the counter she was sitting on and poured himself a drink. 'Bourbon?' He offered.

'Sure. So, about your...request...'

'Yes, tell me.' Elijah handed her a glass, leaned against the counter opposite Katherine and took a sip from his own.

Katherine felt the Bourbon burning in her throat. She needed that. He hadn't really explained what he was planning on doing with the Doppelgänger but since Klaus was involved, it couldn't have a great outcome for the poor girl.

'I'm not going to help you kill an innocent girl, Elijah. I hope you knew that already because If you didn't, you really don't know me at all.'  
She blurted out.

Elijah clearly hadn't expected that outburst because he just stared at her for a while, still holding his glass in front of his mouth. Then he unfroze and laughed in her face. That's what Katherine hadn't been expecting. She though he would be mad or at least a bit irritated but not...this.

'What are you talking about? I'm not going to kill her.' He said still laughing. 'I asked you to help me keep her hidden from Klaus. I told you that yesterday. Weren't you listening?'

'I was, but...well..to be honest you were very cryptic. I thought that was what you wanted when you said I should "take care of her".'  
She said flustered, making quotation marks with her fingers.

'No! Of course not. I actually meant you should take care of her.'

'Oh...okay. I guess I could do that.' Katherine was quite relieved. She had been surprised by Elijah's ruthlessness about the whole situation when she still thought he was planning on killing the girl. That wasn't like him. He could be a vicious monster at times of course. But then again, who isn't?

Katherine had left her brother's place about an hour or so ago and was now sitting in a taxi on its way to the small town called Mystic Falls. A ridiculous name, she had always found. It was like the founders had been asking for trouble. _Let's put Mystic in the town's name. That'll keep away vampires and werewolves for sure! _Katherine couldn't help but smile at her own thoughts.

'Well, this is it. That'll be 12.85.' The taxi-driver turned around to look at her. He was wearing a dark blue cap with a logo on it. _Baseball maybe. _She didn't care much for sports. Beside cricket of course. His skin colour was a darker shade. He looked Hispanic but Kathy figured his name was Dave or Jimmy. He looked like a Jimmy.  
She stepped out of the car and went up to the passenger's window. 'Thanks.' She said and handed him a random bill she had found in her pocket. 'Keep the change.'  
Jimmy lit up as he noticed it was a hundred dollar bill. 'Really? Thanks!' He yelled after her.  
She hadn't waited for him to drive off and was already walking towards the town centre. 

Katherine had had the taxi drop her off at the edge of town because she had no idea where to go once she was there. She headed towards the only place in the entire village where enough noise was coming from to have more than four people in it. It was dark and there was no one out on the street so she decided to run there. Everything around her got blurry and about 3 seconds later Katherine arrived at the Mystic Grill.

Laughter was coming from inside. A murmur of different voices all talking at once. The scratching of cutlery on ceramic plates, Bob Seger's Night Moves playing quietly in the background, people playing pool in the corner. Katherine was searching for something else though. A voice she might recognize, a sound, maybe even a smell. Searching through the crowd she could hear various conversations. But not the conversation she was looking for.

'So he said: 'whatever' and you know what he did then?'

'What?'

'He just walked away!'

'Oh my god! What the fu...' Clearly not the conversation she was looking for. 

'...and my physics-teacher was like 'Well Einstein, do you have a better idea about how gravity works?' and I was like 'Dude, first of all: my name's Pete and B: Newton? More like OLDton!'

Moving on...

After coming across several more meaningless conversations (and in the meantime losing all faith in the future of mankind) Katherine focused on the bar-area. That's normally where the drunk and/or hopeless sit. A good combination if you're looking for some gossip in small town.

'Here you go.' The ice cubes made a clinking noise as the bartender(presumably) put a glass on the bar.

'Thanks.' Said a muffled voice. The man was sitting with his back towards the door so it wasn't clear. There was a slight hint of Scotch as ice cubes clinked against the glass again.

'So, how is she doing?' Another man asked.

'I don't know, Rick. She's pissed at me, that's for sure.'  
The scotch-man's voice sounded clearer than before, indicating he had readjusted himself.

'So nothing new then.' Rick said jokingly. His voice sounded weirdly familiar.

Katherine had stood waiting for a while. Long enough to hear what she needed to hear but not too long to attract attention to herself. People usually go inside a restaurant and not just stand in the parking lot. She had been focused on the conversation until the door of the Grill went open and the music and laughter suddenly grew louder as some unencumbered happy-go-lucky teenagers came stumbling out. Two young hormonal men, seemingly to be very uninformed as to what they could achieve with their boyish charm, headed for a silver Ford Sedan. Of course not knowing that she could hear everything they were saying, a conversation started between the two that would have been quite embarrassing if they had known.

'Dude, check it out.' The taller one, failing to whisper, poked his friend in the ribs with his elbow and pointed out Katherine by briefly jutting his chin towards her.

'Come on, man. Just leave it. Janie's already mad at you for what you did with Sara.' The shorter, blonde one, tried moving in the other direction but his friend didn't follow.

'Relax, she'll never find out.' He walked towards Katherine, who had her back turned against him.

The blonde one came after his friend but stayed hesitantly behind. As the first guy approached her, Katherine quickly turned around and held her fingers around his neck. This took less than a second. He would have fallen to his knees if it wasn't for her holding him upright with one hand. It seemed like it was effortless. He couldn't breathe or move. The only thing he could do was look into her cold, blue eyes which had now focused on his friend. The latter hadn't moved an inch until Katherine noticed him. He took a step back but that was as far as he could go. He suddenly felt very strange. As if the world around him had never existed. The music coming from inside the restaurant faded, everyone around him disappeared and the only thing that was left was her. He could hear his own heartbeat quickening and his breathing getting louder as she looked into his eyes.

'Go home and remember nothing of this.' She said in a monotone voice. Katherine could see his pupils dilate while saying this. Blondie had no other choice than to leave. He got into his car and drove away and as he went around the corner, he lost all memory of that evening.  
By the Mystic Grill, Katherine was still holding up a young man with dark brown hair and a terrified look on his face. Her grip on his throat had loosened so he wouldn't choke to death, but not that much so he could call out for help.

'So, here we are.' She said quite cheerfully. 'You're probably wondering why I'm doing this.' Katherine continued. 'The thing is...' she pushed him out from under the streetlight. 'I really don't like cheaters and I'm a bit famished.'

The colour of her eyes became almost red and small veins appeared under them. Katherine opened her mouth only to reveal a pair of large fangs which she then sunk into the boy's neck. He let out a small whimper as the blood came gushing out. Warm blood pouring down her throat. She hadn't had it this fresh in months. It's just not the same when It's coming out of a bag. After a few seconds she heard his heartbeat slowdown drastically and let go. Thump_...crap..._thump_...don't you die on me, douchebag_...thump_...  
_Holding him up with one arm, blood still oozing out of his neck onto the ground, Katherine made a thin slit in the palm of her hand with one fang and held it over his mouth. A few drops got in before the wound healed again. _That should be enough. _A moment later, the puncture wounds in his neck healed too and Katherine wiped the blood down with a handkerchief she had pulled from the inside pocket of his black leather jacket. She then turned him so he looked directly into her eyes.

'Forget this ever happened and stop cheating on your girlfriend.'

'Okay.'

She then pushed him back towards the parking lot, wiped the sticky red goo from her face and made her way to the Grill.


	4. A civil conversation

**Chapter 4**  
The chatter inside suddenly became very clear as Katherine opened the door. She could now put faces to the conversations she had been eavesdropping on. The girl, talking to her friend had a long face and short light brown hair. Her friend was almost the opposite. Her face was rounder and she had fiery red hair. It was quite obvious she wasn't a natural redhead. The idiot with the extremely limited knowledge of gravity (and possibly every other aspect of science) was wearing a red leather jacket with black sleeves and 'Mystic Falls Timberwolves' on the back. Katherine redirected her attention to the conversation at the bar.

'…or she'll rip him to shreds.'

Rick's voice had sounded familiar to Katherine because they had met before. It was a brief encounter. The main reason for that was that he had had a momentary lapse of judgement and tried to kill her. He had come to his senses very quickly.

'Yeah, and before Elena goes on another kamikaze-mission.' The Scotch-man emptied his glass and signalled the bartender for another one. He was wearing a black leather jacket, which looked very good on him, and had black hair.

Katherine had had enough of lingering in the background and figured it was time to take some action. Maybe get to know the townspeople a little bit. 

Damon Salvatore hadn't had a very good day so far. He was getting used to that. First, Elena nearly screwed up a perfectly good plan. Then, Jeremy actually screwed up a perfectly good plan. Oh, and don't forget about the whole 'Stefan being locked in an underground tomb with an evil bitch'-thing. He sat down on his usual barstool at the Mystic Grill.

'Scotch.' Damon answered the bartender before he could ask.

'So here you are. Moping around isn't gonna help, you know.' He felt a hand patting him once on the back. Alaric, his best friend,(not that Damon would ever admit to that) sat down next to him.

'Thanks for your insight.'  
Damon said as Alaric took off his jacket. 'Means a lot.'

The bartender came over with a glass of Scotch and put it in front of Damon. 'Here you go.'

'Thanks.' He immediately put the glass against his mouth and took a big gulp which already made him feel better.

'So how is she doing?' Alaric asked, and that tiny moment where Damon didn't feel like crap disappeared straight away. He turned to face his friend.

'I don't know, Rick. She's pissed at me, that's for sure.' He put the glass back down.

'So nothing new then.' Rick said jokingly. This was usually the case.

'Ha ha, very funny.' Damon said sarcastically. 'You should take that on tour, Mr Comedian.' He was always the bad guy so he should be used to this already.

Alaric raised his hand at the bartender and pointed at Damon's glass.  
'Sorry, I had to…mainly because It's true.' He said, still laughing.

'Can't argue with that.' Damon said as he took another sip from his glass.

Alaric lowered his voice so no one else could hear. 'Any plans on how we're gonna get Stefan out of the tomb yet?'

'Well, we need a witch to do that and the one we have isn't up for the job. So no, Rick. I don't have any plans at the moment.' Damon answered a bit irritated.

'It sounds like you've already given up. We need to get your brother out of there, asap or she'll rip him to shreds.' The bartender placed a glass of Scotch in front of him.

'Yeah, and before Elena goes on another kamikaze-mission.'  
Damon emptied his one in a gulp and signalled the bartender for another one.

As the bartender brought over his drink, a woman sat down next to him. She had long, brown, soft curling hair and was wearing a thin, black leather jacket. She was quite beautiful, which Damon noticed immediately.

'Well, hello. Can I buy you a drink?'

Katherine turned her head to see a drunk vampire and an off-duty vampire hunter smiling at her. The latter didn't smile for long. His eyes grew big and she heard his heart rate accelerate. She gave him a big smile, while ignoring his friend, and turned to the bartender.

'I'd like a shot of Tequila, on the house.' Looked into the bartender's brown eyes, his pupils dilated. The bartender went off to get her drink.  
She then turned to the baffled history teacher and his vampire-mate. 'No thank you. I've got it.'

Alaric, in the meantime, was trying to warn Damon by poking him in the ribs with his elbow. Damon didn't understand the signal so he decided to ignore it.  
'Neat trick.' He said.

'Well, I'm sure you have a special skillset of your own. Mr Salvatore, I presume.' The Salvatore brothers being in Mystic Falls was a well-known fact. Even more so for Katherine's family who kept tabs on every link associated with Katerina Petrova.

'You know my name but I don't know yours. Help me out here.' Damon sat up straight and gave one of his persuasive 'how-you-doing' grins.

'Katherine Mikaelson.' She said and reached out her hand.

'Mikaelson?' Damon ignored the hand in front of him and put himself in a defensive position. Katherine noticed this and turned towards the bartender who had just brought over her drink. She smiled at him.

'Oh relax. I'm not here to kill you. If I was, you'd already be dead and in a dumpster somewhere.' She said and poured the shot down her throat.  
'Right, Alaric?'

'Ehm, yeah well that is kinda true.' He answered admittedly, careful to avoid eye contact.

'Wait, you guys know each other?' Damon asked confused.

Katherine smiled and turned towards him.  
'You might say that. If I remember correctly, Alaric here tried to kill me.'

'In my defence, I didn't know you were an Original vampire. I didn't know you were a Mikaelson, I swear.' Alaric said panicking. She could hear his heartbeat fasten and it nearly jumped out of his chest when she banged her glass on the bar.

'Calm down, Rick. I just wanted to have a civil conversation.' Katherine chuckled. 'And in the meantime meet a Salvatore… Well, that was just a happy surprise.'

'Really?' Damon said, not believing that it was, in fact, a coincidence.

'No. You're just not very good at keeping a low profile.' She answered.

'So you being here is because…?'

'A little bird told me you have the doppelgänger. How could I resist finally meeting a descendant of the infamous Katerina Petrova? Or Katherine Pierce. Whichever you prefer.' She said and waved her hand, gesturing it wasn't important.

'I have no idea what you're talking about.' Damon said not very convincing.

'Oh I'm sorry. Are you not one of the Salvatores that had an unhealthy love triangle with her…AND your brother, right here in Mystic Falls about…150 years ago? How terribly rude of me. I was absolutely sure you where the brutal but charismatic and mostly annoying Damon Salvatore.' Katherine said, putting a thick layer of 'fancy' on top of her British accent.

Before Damon could think of a reply, a faint ringing came from Katherine's pocket.

'Excuse me.' She held up her index finger and picked up her mobile phone.

'Hey, It's me.' A voice said on the other end. Katherine could hear music in the background.

'Hi, sweetie. What's up?' Damon and Alaric shared a confused look.

'The usual. Ghosts and shit.' The voice answered.

'Really?' Katherine paused, expecting an answer. When none came, she continued 'It's just that you don't usually call me when It's just ghosts and shit.'

Nothing could be heard but country music for a moment, when the voice answered: 'Fine. Sammy's been looking at me like I'm gonna have a mental breakdown any second. He's driving me nuts!'

'Well, what did you expect, Dean? I mean, It's Sam. You tell him, anyone for that matter, that you got tortured in hell and then continued to torture others yourself and think everything's gonna be the same?' Katherine said irritated. But she did understand him. She knew how his brother could be.

'I thought you were supposed to be on my side.' Dean said.

'Now we both know that's just not true,' Katherine answered jokingly, 'I'm on the side of the non-whining people.'

'Oh you're hilarious.' Dean said sarcastically.

'I know. I had a stand-up gig in the 70's. But they said I was too anti-governmental in my jokes so they fired me.'

'Okay… I'm gonna hang up now, but I will need proof of that.'

'Bye, say hi to Sammy for me.' She said laughing, and hung up the phone.

During Katherine's phone call, Damon and Alaric had made no attempt to leave. They were too surprised by the strange conversation the vicious vampire was having, which had started with her saying 'sweetie'. This didn't seem to fit the standard view of an Original.

After putting back her phone, Katherine turned towards the two men.

'I feel like we got off on the wrong foot.' She said.

'You might say that.' Damon muttered.

'Look,' She continued, ignoring Damon's reply. 'I'm just here to keep my brother from killing anyone…important.'

'And who decides who's important or not?' Alaric asked sceptically.

'That remains to be seen.' Katherine smiled and stood up from the barstool.

'Leaving so soon? We were just getting to know each other.' Damon said innocently.

'Don't worry, I'll be around Mr Salvatore.' She patted him on the shoulder and winked at Alaric before leaving the Mystic Grill.

Damon and Alaric were left behind with a strong feeling of 'what-the-fuck-did-just-happen?' and looked at each other in confusion until Damon had a realization.

'Hey, did she just leave us with her bill?'


	5. Since Day One

**Chapter 5**

Back at her newly acquired mansion, Katherine was analyzing the meeting with her new best friends in silence.  
She was sitting at a large oak table in a massive dining room with her legs flung over the side of her chair whilst pseudo reading an old book about the Trojan War she had found in the library. She had been reading the first sentence over and over again and still had no idea what it said.  
Her mind kept wandering off, keeping her occupied with other things.  
Things she'd rather not think about, like the meeting with her brother, Klaus, which was going to happen eventually.  
Katherine chucked the book aside and instantly regretted it. She flung her legs off the armrest and walked over to the window. While picking up the book, she checked to see if any pages where torn and then laid it on the table.

The white coloured mansion stood on a small hill overlooking a huge field which was supposed to be the front lawn. A few oak trees were scattered along the length of the driveway.  
There were several tree stumps in the 'yard' where the beautiful oaks had been chopped down. Probably to make the massive oak table and the massive oak doors and the massive oak chairs and beds and book casings and most of the other furniture. This slaughter-scene of nature was only ever interrupted by an expensive designer vase or a badly assembled IKEA-coffee table. Katherine figured the guy whose house this was, before it got repossessed by the IRS (according to the notice on the front door), wasn't very handy and his decorator was shit.

Suddenly a black SUV was coming up the driveway. She could hear the gravel underneath its tires as she waited for it to stop. She hoped it wasn't the owner of the house or worse, the IRS. Compelling one person wasn't an issue but compelling one or more federal agents was another thing. Agents had paperwork. Paperwork could be traced. Complications. She wasn't in the mood for complications. When the car had finally crossed the long stretch of driveway and stopped in front of the house, she knew she'd been over thinking things again because a tall man wearing a black suit and tie stepped out. Elijah saw her looking at him through the window, smiled and walked towards the front door.

'I assume you've met with some of the Gilbert girl's friends?' Elijah said after sitting down in one of the old armchairs in the dining room. He'd helped himself to a drink from the bar. The 17th century oak Wainscot chair creaked as he readjusted himself, trying not to look like an idiot when his drink slipped out of his hand. Fortunately, his quick reflexes took over and he caught it mid-air without spilling a drop. The chair was beautiful and looked hand carved with complicated patterns on the back. Subtle flowers were etched into one side and were symmetrically etched into the other one. As beautiful as it looked, it wasn't nearly as comfortable.

'Gilbert? Now that you mention it, you hadn't even told me what the doppelgänger is called.' Katherine sat down on the wide windowsill and crossed her legs.

'The girl's name is Elena Gilbert. Now back to my question, Kat?' Elijah said.

'Elena...hmm... Oh right! Now I remember. Damon Salvatore mentioned her. But to answer your question: yes, I have.' Katherine said. 'I already knew the history teacher though.'

'Oh, how come?' Elijah asked. He was fidgeting with his expensive cufflinks. Needless to say he wasn't really interested in the answer and Katherine knew it so she ignored the question.

'You're holding out on me, Eli. What have _you _been up to while I was meeting... Elena's friends?' She spoke the name out carefully, like it was a foreign name. Making sure she pronounced it right and not sound like an idiot. She had always had trouble with names. Being around so many cultures over the years and people giving their children names which would haunt them for the rest of their lives had made pronunciations a difficult task. About 2 years ago, Katherine had spent a weekend at Comic Con surrounded by Spocks, Chewbaccas and Iron Mans. She'd started talking to a weird skinny guy wearing a fez (seemingly thinking this was cool now because he kept saying 'Fezzes are cool' and then looking at Kathy like she was supposed to recognize this as a valid response to 'What's your name?') and the meeting ended with her trying to pronounce 'Raxacoricifallapatorius' and him intermittently having to shout 'It's CAPTAIN Jack Harkness!'.

'Well...I might've...thrown some pennies.' Elijah hesitated, realizing how ridiculous that sounded.

'Thrown..pennies? Like the actual coin? Or just girls named Penny?' Katherine said.

'Yes, Katherine. I threw girls named Penny through the window of a restaurant.' He said with a heavy sarcastic undertone.

'Jeez, what did they ever do to you?' Katherine said. When Elijah looked at her with that blank expression which made clear that 'enough is enough' she continued. 'Okay fine. Explain.'

'The Salvatore-bloke killed me and his new best friend, Rose is helping him. So I had to show them that that was not a wise decision.'

_Bloke? _Katherine thought. _His inner Britishness is coming through. This isn't a good sign._

'Oh come one.' Katherine said. 'What did you expect? _I'm not deliberately quoting a Schweppes-commercial here. _First of all: He's Damon!  
Second: That Rose girl is probably still pissed because you've been hunting her down for over five-hundred years.'

'And I killed her best friend.' Elijah stepped in.

'AND you killed her...what? Why would you do that?' She asked.

'He's the one who let Katerina go in the first place, is he not?' Elijah stated.

'Oh please! You've fancied her since day one. Don't pretend you weren't glad she escaped Klaus.' Katherine said.

This caught Elijah off guard. He didn't know his little sister knew that. An embarrassing thought.  
Deciding to ignore Katherine's observations, he changed the subject.  
'Can I ask what you're plans are in Mystic Falls?'

'Plans?' Katherine laughed. 'I think you know me well enough to know I never have a plan for anything. Let's just see what happens.'


	6. No pee breaks

**Chapter 6 **

Katherine hadn't been lying to Elijah when she said she didn't have any plans. She really had no idea what she was trying to accomplish in this place. The one thing she did know was that her brother had been hiding something from her.  
'I might be more inclined to help you if you told me what you're up to.' Katherine had said.  
As a response, Eli en her had gone for a ride. She had resigned herself from asking too many questions in case he changed his mind. Katherine didn't really know why she was so interested in Mystic Falls but _It's too late to get out now_, she thought.

Elijah stopped his SUV on the edge of the town's centre and got out. While Katherine reached for the door handle, he had already circled the front of the car. He opened the car door for her.  
'Well, thank you.' She said and stepped out.

'Jonas Martin' He said. 'And this is my son, Luka.' _Well hello. _This was Kathy's first reaction at seeing the 'warlocks' Elijah had been hanging out with. They looked a bit like each other. Both had a dark skin colour but Jonas was wearing glasses. Then came the sudden realization that Elijah had been hanging out with a bunch of warlocks. Warlocks are basically just male witches and in general, Originals don't tend to hang out with magic people unless they need something badly. Of course, in those dangerous times Katherine should've expected nothing less. _It's not like we're immortal or anything. _

'So this is the big secret you've been hiding, badly, from me?' She asked. 'Why do you need witches anyway?'

'I needed the witches to find the Gilbert-girl...' Elijah said.

'Warlocks, actually.' Jonas interrupted. They both ignored him.

'Okay, you know what? This is how it's going to go...' Katherine said. She'd had enough. _Witches?_ _Oh excuse me, warlocks. Salvatores? Doppelgängers? History teachers? This is getting ridiculous. Why am I even wasting my time here? I've got another troubled family to look after. _

'You do whatever you want to about Klaus and Elena Gilbert. I, on the other hand, am going to leave this shitty town and GO HOME!' She yelled and turned round.

Elijah was suddenly standing in front of the door.  
'Katherine, please. I just...' He stopped himself.

'You just what?'

Elijah refused to say more and looked at everything else but her.

'Yeah, right..' Katherine mumbled and pushed him out of the way. In a second she was back in front of the building and next to her brother's SUV. _Better not steal the car. I'll just walk._

Katherine didn't really know what had happened just then. She hadn't even thought about leaving him before meeting the warlocks. And she was pretty sure that she didn't even give a shit whether there _were_ any or not. She had this nagging feeling in the back of her mind but she ignored it. _It's just a bit of guilt, that's all. I said I would help him and now...I'm not. I'm just guilty that I'm leaving the one brother I can actually trust._

Katherine spent the next few hours wandering around town. She didn't really know why. Her vision was blurred and it was like time was moving slower than usual. In an effort to shake off the strange feeling, Kathy stopped and blinked. She was standing directly under a street lamp. It seemed too bright to be a normal lamp. Katherine couldn't even see her surroundings anymore. She just saw white and beyond that, black. Like staring into an abyss.  
Her head was throbbing and she began to lose her balance. Everything around her started spinning.  
Or was she? The light got brighter and brighter. It burned into her eyes as she heard a sharp high-pitched noise. It was coming from above her. Katherine tried to cover her eyes and ears but it didn't help.  
Any moment now her eardrums would shatter. They would heal right away of course but what good was that if the noise was still there? It took a while before she realized the light had gone. It was only then that she noticed, she was laying on the ground hold up in fetus-position, covering her head with her arms. The high-pitched sound had ended completely when she rolled onto her back and opened her eyes gingerly.

'Hello.' A voice said. There where purple and black spots dancing in front of her eyes so she couldn't see anyone.

'Ghnhnn.' Was the most she could get out.  
Then, the vague silhouet of a man wearing a light-brown trench coat helped her up. The man put one arm under hers and lifted her up with ease.

'Castiel, I'm going to kill you.' Katherine had found her voice.  
Castiel had his hands on her shoulders, helping her keep her balance. Katherine blinked a few more times so most of the spots had disappeared.

Cas looked tired. His hair was messy and it seemed like he had some worry-lines. But that was impossible. He was an angel. Angels don't...change? Their vessels heal from anything. Even worry-lines. It was probably because he had this permanent frown on his face.

'I doubt it.' He smirked. 'I am sorry about my entrance. You had some magic in you I needed to erase.'

'Magic? What do you mean?'

'I saw you enter the witches' building clean and leave it tainted.' Castiel lowered his arms.

'Tainted? Great. So I guess that means the Martins put a spell on me. That's it, they're dead.' Katherine said and headed back.

'No, you shouldn't do that.' Castiel stopped her.

'Why not?'

'I can't say but I advice you to stay away from this place for the time being. Dean and Sam need your help. You do have things to do here but not at this time.' Cas said.

'Not at this time, huh? And who told you that? God? Our Lord and savior?' Katherine said sarcastically.

'No, of course not. God has better things to do than to watch over you personally. A prophet did.' Castiel said like this was obvious.

'Okay...whatever..' Katherine felt like this conversation was going nowhere. 'So you expect me to drop everything because you say so?'

'Yes. You were already planning on doing that, were you not?' Castiel rested his head on his shoulder the way he always did when he was getting confused.

'Maybe I wasn't. I was under a spell right? And I was wondering why I got so angry and left all of a sudden. So the Martins probably made me feel like that.'

'Sam and Dean are in trouble, Katherine. I don't have time for this. Are you coming, or not?' Castiel asked impatiently

'They're in trouble _right now_? Well, why didn't you say so?! Let's go.' Kathy said and put her arm on Cas'.

Castiel didn't say anything else. He put his index and middle finger on Katherine's forehead and then he was gone.  
No, she was gone too.

The next moment she was standing inside what looked like a church, on her own. Cas was gone and around her all hell was breaking loose.  
She didn't know it at the time but that's what was actually happening.

She heard screams in the distance and laughter too. It was hard to focus on because the sounds echoed through the stone corridors. She relied on her sense of smell and picked the corridor with the blood-and-burning-flesh smell. She entered a long stone hallway. There was light coming from the end. Huge chandeliers hung from the ceiling and were vibrating vigorously. It took her three seconds to reach the other end. She passed random strangers, all in a line with their backs toward the wall. They didn't pay her any attention. A few were whispering in excitement to each other and some looked very nervous.

When she reached the end of the hallway, huge wooden doors were stood half open. She didn't waist any time and pushed them open. They creaked in their hinges.  
The first thing she saw was a white light coming from the marble floor. There were cracks formed into some sort of symbol and a rumbling noise came from it.

'He's coming.' Katherine heard. A few feet next to the cracks in the floor, stood Sam and Dean with terrifying looks on their faces.

'Well, let's get going then!' She yelled over the rumbling. Before the brothers even had a chance to respond, Kathy had taken them by the collars and pulled them out of the room. It didn't take her much effort even though Sam and Dean were pretty tall guys.

They were out of the church in a matter of seconds and Katherine let them go in front of their car.  
A black '67 Chevy Impala.

Sam had that _I did a horrible horrible thing and I'm never ever going to forgive myself_-look on his face and she had a feeling the cracking of the floor was not intended.

'Katherine? Wh..what are you doing here? How did you know..?' He stuttered confused.

'Cas brought me. We'll talk later. Now, you guys need to move.' Katherine said and turned towards Dean. 'Take Sam and drive as far a way from here as you can. Don't stop until you run out of gas, okay?'  
Katherine whizzed around the car and opened the passenger car door. She could tell Sam was in bad shape. 'Get in.'  
Sam didn't question her and got in the Impala. Kathy shut the door.  
Dean had gotten in as well. He hadn't said a word but she could see lines on his face so she left it.  
'Be careful and call me when you get to a motel.' She said through the window on Sam's side. She looked at Dean. He nodded and started up the car.  
Then Kathy turned to Sam, said: 'And no pee breaks.', gave him a little smile and disappeared.


	7. Silly me

**Chapter 7**  
Things had gotten weird.  
After the boys had left, Katherine went back into the church. She didn't remember from which hallway she had come so she just followed the rumbling noise. At first sight, it looked the same as before. Then she noticed some small differences, like a blinding light coming from the cracks in the wooden door at the end. And the people that had been standing neatly in a row toward the wall before, were now kneeling on the floor.  
Some muttering things under their breath. Once again ignoring them, Katherine approached the door. More slowly this time.  
She was about to put her hand against it to push it open when the light and the noise faded. Katherine hesitated and looked back.  
The people had stopped muttering and some sat up straight to stare at the door.  
Closest to her, a man was looking at her. The others hadn't even seemed to notice her, but he had. He was handsome. In a mature way.  
He looked to be in his late forties and was wearing a cheap suit. He might've pulled off the rich-lawyer act if it wasn't for that suit and the light stubble on his chin. He had dark brown hair and equally dark brown eyes.

'Are you sure you want to go in there, dear?' He said. She had expected him to sound sweet or even...dad-like. The voice that came out was neither. It had a cruel undertone and it sounded like he wanted her to open the door and something awful would happen. Katherine was wondering why he'd sounded so harsh, when the lawyer's beautiful dark brown eyes turned black and ice cold. Katherine flinched. He was a demon.

She looked at the row of people behind him and realized she was standing in a hallway full of demons. Why hadn't they done anything to her? They weren't even paying attention to her, except for the man formerly known as brown-eyes. He smiled. Eyes black as onyx gems, piercing into the back of her skull. Without thinking about it, Katherine put her hand behind her on the door. She just wanted to get out of there and not have to look into those eyes. The door creaked shortly and swung open. She would've fallen backwards if it wasn't for her fast reflexes.  
What came next, was confusing to say the least. Katherine turned round and came face to face with…with what?  
There was a woman standing in front of her but there was something…off about her. She was small, had long brown hair. She looked familiar. It was like her image was shifting. Not like a hologram but more like something was inside her. Trying not to burst out. There was a giant hole in the floor where that light had come from earlier. The light was gone but the hole was still there. Huge and gaping. Katherine was thinking about how, if she threw a stone in there it might sound like throwing it into a really deep well, when the woman spoke.

'I was expecting more people to be here. Maybe a banner? No? Still. Could've been worse I suppose.' She said. The woman hadn't moved a muscle. Like she didn't know how.

'Erm…sorry? There are some people outside if that makes you feel better?' Kathy blurted out. She always pulled out the sarcasm in weird and/or dangerous situations. She thought it was just to make more time to think of a plan but mostly it was just because she was scared out of her mind. Which was ridiculous because she couldn't die. Katherine started doubting that last part. She didn't know why but that tiny woman seemed so unbelievably powerful all of a sudden.

'My apologies for this body. It was…at hand.' She smiled. She looked at something on her left and then started moving al her fingers. Then her hands and after that her legs. Like she was testing them out.

'Yeah. No problem…I guess.' Katherine hadn't noticed it before. There was a body in the corner of the room. It was bent in strange ways as if something had blasted it against the wall. She probably knew what that 'something' was.

The woman looked up from her newly acquired limbs. 'So, are you the one?'

'The one? Erm… I don't know but my first thought would be..no?' Katherine's brain was doing overtime. What the hell was going on around here?

'Hmm..' The woman looked at her pensively. 'No… You're right. You're not the one. You're not it.'

'It? Excuse me…person. Would you mind telling me what the hell is going on and who the fuck you are?' Katherine said with a slight hint of mania in her voice.

'Oh silly me. I'm Lucifer.' She smiled.

'Lucifer?' Katherine unwillingly took a step back.

'Yes. Satan. The devil. Beelzebub. I go by a lot of names but I like Lucifer the most.' She walked toward the body in the corner of the room and rolled it over with a push of her foot. Katherine recognized it. Her. It. Pretty, blonde, thin and a giant cunt of a demon.

'Lilith.'

'Yes. My first you know.' Lucifer said, not looking up from the body.

Katherine didn't even try to make a run for it while Lucifer wasn't looking. She knew she'd be dead if she made the wrong move.

'Yes. I've been told.' She said absently while scanning the room for anything useful to talk about. Her eyes wandered over the floor and came across something very peculiar. A knife. It looked like nothing special. It was carved on one side and the wooden hilt seemed centuries old. The blade had the familiar Kurdish symbols on it. Dean's knife. No. It wasn't Dean's… Lucifer's body… It's

'Ruby!'

Lucifer turned toward her.  
'Ahh yes!' She squeaked with delight. 'Temporarily stole her human body. It's not like she'll be needing it anymore.' Lucifer joked.  
'Sam Winchester made sure of that.'

'Sam killed Ruby?' She had missed out on a lot, apparently.

'Seems so. Speaking of. Do you happen to know where that little rascal is hanging out? I would sure like to thank him for releasing me out of my cage. I was getting a bit claustrophobic after so many millennia stuck in there.'

'Sam..released you?' Now she understood why Sam had had the _I did a horrible horrible thing and so on_-look on his face.

'I presume. That _was _the plan.'

'Aaand…who's plan was it exactly?' Katherine asked, slowly heading towards the door.

'Well, let's just say that it was a team effort.' Ruby smiled.


End file.
